I submerged my hands into the soapy dishwater and stared at the dirty white wall ahead of me. I was so damn tired. I allowed my brain to become unfocused, random ideas floating in and out. What was I going to do with my life next year? Maybe I should buy a car. The normal thought of a seventeen year old.
“Shana! Get those dishes done if you want to leave early tonight!” Janet yelled across from cleaning the burger station. Her plump body wobbled as she glared at me.
Usually I was Janet’s favourite, but obviously not tonight. I let out a great sigh and searched for the ever elusive scrubbing brush in the dirty water. Finding it I slowly moved my hands to finish cleaning the bowl that was bobbing happily. Glaring at it, I glanced up to make sure that no-one had noticed my behaviour. Everyone else was working, it had been a long night. My pocket buzzed. Finishing off the bowl, I glanced at the pile of dishes still waiting for my attention, then I dried my hand and subtly fished my phone out of my pocket.
10:34 pm
From: Dad
cant pick u up. walk home.
Reply?
“Oh well.” I quickly replied. A nice walk home under the stars wasn’t too bad after an evening in a greasy restaurant. Grabbing a bowl, I renewed my job with gusto, keeping an eye on Janet so she didn’t catch me texting, even if it was only my Dad. I wanted this job too bad.
Almost skidding on the wet floor I slammed the last cupboard closed with a satisfactory thump. “All done!” Janet almost smiled at me. “Can I sign out now?” I tried to look angelic.
Janet slowly wiped the counter. “Girl I’m not your boss. Ask her.” But she was smiling, maybe she had just been having a bad day. Whatever it was at least she wasn’t grumpy enough to make me stay, Mary may own the restaurant but Janet organised the ‘girls’ that worked for Mary.
Mary was leaning over her laptop, and flipping through the restaurants diary. Every now and then she would nervously tap the counter, it was Sunday, time to plan out the schedule for the next week. She typed something out and then stared into space. She was way too young to be our boss, but we all liked her well enough. Her hair was done up in a tight bun on her forehead, efficient like she was. Self-consciously I smoothed my hair, the ponytail was drooping. “Hey Mary, can I sign out now?” She drew her eyes off her work for a sec. “Or do you want me to…?” I left the question open.
“No, no. Sure.” She said, but I think she probably would have said that to anyone. I wondered what kind of social life she had. I mean every day from six am to twelve pm at night, Mary was here organizing food in for the next day, or cutting up rolls and peeling potatoes. I didn’t think she had one. Poor her.
Walking around the counter I smiled at Janet, still working. Someone had left the sign out forms out on the clean counter, shuffling through them to find mind I scrambled to find a pen. In a hurry to get home I scrawled my times and clocked my hours for today. Wow, I had worked long hours today. No wonder my feet hurt. I rocked my heels to bring back feeling.
“Don’t forget to take an afghan.” Janet slid them over to me.
“I’ll take it for the walk home. Thanks a heap, see you guys.” I aimed the last comment at both Janet and Mary, who raised her hand in a distracted farewell. Grabbing my bag from the counter, I walked out the door into the mellow light of the streetlamps. The cool summer breeze hit me, and I breathed it in. Gosh it was good to be out of there for the night. I bit into the cookie, wow was Janet a good cook, slightly cold of course from spending all that time in the freezer. If I smelled it, would probably smell of raw meat, but I wasn’t complaining.
The concrete road was smooth under my feet, but soon it turned into rough gravel as I made my way through various shortcuts towards my home. The walk wasn’t long at all, in fact it only lasted about twenty minutes max. But wiping the crumbs off my jersey I decided to take my time. No-one at home was waiting for me tonight, and homework was a thing of the past until I decided what to study. There was my problem, the future. What was I going to do with my life?
Pondering on such thoughts I did not notice the crunching of footsteps, nor the silence which had enveloped the road I was walking down. There was no-one in sight and I loved the freedom it gave me. But I missed all the warning signs. I was not alone like I thought. In fact there was a plan in play that I had no idea I was a critical part of.
The fact that I was not alone began to filter through my thoughts. Spinning around I faced the threat face on. A person stood cloaked in darkness, no features were certain, my heart began to beat loudly. “Hello? Who are you?” I tried to force my voice not to wobble.
Whoever it was took a step forwards. A small whimper escaped my mouth. They took another step closer. I wanted to run. Adrenaline ran through my veins making me twitchy. “Hello?”
“Hey, Shana.”
I screamed like an idiot. “Gosh, Genna! You scared the living daylights out of me.” All of a sudden the shadows turned back into the welcoming night. I was so mad, angry and relieved.
“Sorry Sha’sha.” She grinned, the unexpected surprise of scaring me obviously amusing her. “I was waiting to say goodnight and check on you.”
I smiled despite myself. “What are you my mother?”
We laughed. Genna leaned over and gave me a hug. “Well now I have scared you, I better get going. Uni starts in a few days.” She smiled at me. “Any closer to finding out what the plan is after this year?”
I studied my feet. “Nope.” I bit my lip. Genna gave me another hug. No words were needed. We had discussed my future many times and we were no closer to solving it. It was a point of disagreement between my parents and I. Sometimes a hug represented more than words.
“See you around.” Genna said. And off she went.
I yelled a belated goodbye and set on my path again, this time all my senses were heightened. No longer was I enjoying the walk. Shadows jumped out at me, and all I could think about was my non-existent career. I was not in the best mood. My feet began to throb from a day’s work and the tiredness seemed to come in waves. I felt tears prick my eyes but I forced them back and kept my eyes on the road. One foot in front of the other. And repeat. Stumbling on a stone, my hand caught on a bush beside the road. Sucking the blood of my finger, I tasted salt. Damn, the tears had gotten the better of me. Boy was I such a baby. I angrily scrubbed them away.
Then I froze. Someone was behind me. “Genna?” I pivoted a smile on my face. But he was too tall to be my best friend. I opened my mouth and he was on me in an instant. His hand covered my mouth, and the other one stuck a needle in my arm. I fruitlessly struggled. The darkness became fuzzed and my crazed movements faded. Then I blacked out.
376Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUUEhqsxju
